Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars just made breakfast so much more exciting! Nutty brown butter turns everything it touches into gold, and these pumpkin oatmeal bars are no exception. The best part? They’re SO easy to toss together with a quick glaze on top!
Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars
How do you make pumpkin oatmeal bars even better? You make them with brown butter, of course! Brown butter is one of those ingredients that you can add to virtually anything (like my favorite Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars) and turn it into heaven on earth. It adds a depth of nutty flavor that greatly compliments the pumpkin and warm spices in this easy oatmeal bar recipe. There’s really nothing better to have for a quick grab and go fall breakfast. I love whipping up a batch of these the day before Thanksgiving – that way, I can eat one or two while I’m throwing the turkey in the oven and wrangling my kids!
Start your fall morning off right with more easy recipes like Pumpkin Pancakes (one of my most popular recipes) or the BEST Apple Fritters!
How to Make Brown Butter Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars
- Prepare. Prehat the oven to 350°F and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly spray with nonstick spray.
- Brown the butter. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Whisk continuously until browned. Once you smell that signature nutty aroma, you’re good to go! Reserve about 2 TBSP in a small bowl, then pout the remaining butter into a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Mix the oats. Whisk the oats, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a separate large bowl and set aside.
- Make the pumpkin mixture. Once the butter has cooled off, mix in the pumpkin puree, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the oat mixture until combined.
- Bake. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
- Make a glaze: Mix about ½ cup powdered sugar with the reserved brown butter. Add more or less powdered sugar and/or milk to adjust the consistency of the glaze.
Storing Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars
Once the brown butter pumpkin oatmeal bars have totally cooled to room temperature, you can either store them at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks! Just make sure they’re in an airtight container and stored WITHOUT the glaze.
When you’re ready to serve, heat the glaze for just 10 seconds at a time in the microwave until it’s ready to drizzle.
Ingredients for Brown Butter Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars
- Butter: For this recipe, I like to use salted butter, but unsalted also works just fine.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: These always work best for baked oatmeal bars!
- Flour: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup, don’t dunk the cup into the bag. When you do that, you end up packing the flour. Packed flour is too much flour!
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: As you likely already know, this magical powder adds the coziest fall flavor to whatever it’s added to!
- Baking Powder: Make sure it’s not expired before adding it to the mix.
- Cinnamon: Feel free to add more for more warm fall flavor.
- Salt: Just a small pinch helps to enhance the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Pumpkin Puree: Make sure you’re using 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. They are not the same!
- Eggs: These are going to bind everything together.
- Brown Sugar: All out? No worries – just combine 1 cup of white granulated sugar with 1 TBSP of molasses.
- Vanilla: A small splash adds a depth to the sweetness.
- Powdered Sugar: Add more or less to the glaze to adjust the amount of sweetness.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 1 Stick + 2 Tablespoons Salted Butter divided
- 1 1/2 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup 100% Pure Pumpkin Puree
- 2 Large Eggs
- 3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2-1 Cup Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9×5 or 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper then spray with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and continue whisking until the butter turns brown and starts to smell nutty.
- Reserve two tablespoons in a small bowl and pour the remaining butter into a large bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the oats, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a separate large bowl and set aside.
- Once the butter has cooled a bit, mix in the pumpkin puree, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla then stir in the dry ingredients until combined.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and spread it out evenly then bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is dried out and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the pan.
- In the meantime, mix 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and reserved butter in a bowl, add more powdered sugar if you’d like a thicker icing, or stir in a tablespoon of milk until thinned to your liking.
- Once the bars have cooled for around 20 minutes slice, drizzle with the glaze, and serve.
